The invention relates to an arrangement and a method for aligning notes of value during their transport along a transport path, for example within an automatic teller machine or an automatic cash safe or a cash register system. The notes of value can in particular be bank notes or checks, which are for example to be conveyed to a receiving area of a box for storing notes of value or which have been retrieved therefrom. At least one transport element serves to transport the note of value along the transport path. The transport element is driven by means of at least one first drive unit. An aligning apparatus serves to align the notes of value, in particular in order to reduce or correct a lateral offset of the note of value.
In teller machines for notes of value, such as automatic teller machines, automatic cash safes and automatic machines for dispensing and/or receiving vouchers and tickets, the notes of value received are transported from an input compartment to a receiving area and/or notes of value to be dispensed are transported from a receiving area to a dispensing compartment. The receiving area can be provided in the form of a transport box for storing and transporting the notes of value. In order to achieve as high a throughput of notes of value as possible during the transport of the notes of value and to avoid malfunctioning due to jamming of the notes of value, i.e. so-called paper jams, the usually rectangular shaped notes of value are oriented so that their longitudinal axis is arranged transversely to the transport direction. Such an orientation is also referred to as long-side-first orientation. The risk of a paper jam is particularly high in the case of used notes of value, since the stiffness of such notes of value decreases during use and contamination of the surface of the notes of value increases. In particular in the case of such used notes of value a skewed feed or skewed pulling of the notes of value during their transport may occur. As a result, the notes of value may show a lateral offset and/or an angular offset with respect to a desired target position, and they should therefore be aligned.
An apparatus for aligning notes of value is known, e.g., from document DE 10 2004 060 191 A1. In this apparatus lateral guide elements, as for example used for aligning and guiding single sheets in printers or copiers, are dispensed with. In the case of notes of value, due to their differing stiffness and the varying quality of their edges, the use of lateral guide elements would result in a misalignment and/or malfunctioning caused by paper jams. Further apparatuses for aligning notes of value are known from documents DE 10 2008 050 534 A1, DE 10 2008 038 771 A1, DE 10 2011 000 783 A1 and DE 102 03 177 C1.
It is an object of the invention to indicate an arrangement and a method for aligning a note of value by means of which it is possible to align the note of value during its transport along a transport path in a simple and reliable manner.
This object is solved by an arrangement for aligning at least one note of value having the features of patent claim 1, as well as by a method having the features of the independent method claim.
Advantageous embodiments are indicated in the dependent claims, wherein both the arrangement and the method can be developed further by means of the features of said dependent claims.
An arrangement and a method for aligning at least one note of value along a transport path having the features of the respective independent claims allow for the scanning line of a bank note reader to be used to detect at least one position at the trailing edge and preferably one position at the leading edge of the note of value. Based on this it is possible to monitor and/or control in a simple manner the path length across which the note of value has to be transported along the transport path before the aligning apparatus can commence the process of aligning the note of value. Furthermore, it is possible to control and monitor in a simple manner the path length across which the note of value can be transported along the transport path while being aligned by means of the aligning apparatus, without the note of value coming into contact with the second transport element. In this manner in particular also an angular offset of the note of value can be taken into account when determining the available aligning path length so that in the case of a note of value having a small angular offset a longer aligning path length is available than in the case of a note of value having a greater angular offset. This allows for the aligning path length to be used in an optimum manner without problems occurring due to the note of value still being in contact with the first transport element or already being in contact with the second transport element during the aligning process.
It is particularly advantageous if a control unit controls and/or monitors the transport of the note of value in the transport direction as well as the aligning apparatus commencing with the detection of the exit of the trailing edge of the note of value from the first and from the second scanning area in such a manner that the aligning apparatus commences with the aligning process only after the note of value has been transported across a preset first path length in the transport direction. Hereby it is guaranteed that the note of value is no longer in contact with the first transport element when the aligning apparatus aligns the note of value.
In this arrangement, it is advantageous if the first path length corresponds to the distance between the scanning line of the bank note reader and a contact area of the first transport element for contacting the note of value during its transport along the transport path plus a safety distance.
In other embodiments, the provision of a safety distance can be dispensed with. Hereby a simple control/monitoring of the position of the note of value can take place in such a manner that it can be guaranteed that the note of value is no longer in contact with the first transport element when it is aligned by means of the aligning apparatus.
In an advantageous embodiment the bank note reader detects the leading edge of the note of value in the first scanning area and in the second scanning area when the contact area of the second transport element on a first side of the central axis has the same lateral distance as the contact area of the first transport element and when the contact area of the second transport element on the second side of the central axis has the same lateral distance as the contact area of the first transport element. In this manner, a simple detection of the leading edge and the trailing edge by means of the scanning areas or the corresponding detection areas can be achieved when the contact areas of the first and second transport element have the same lateral distance to the central axis.
In an alternative embodiment, in which the contact areas of the second transport element have a different lateral distance to the central axis than the contact areas of the first transport element, the bank note reader detects the leading edge of the note of value in a third scanning area and a fourth scanning area, wherein the third scanning area on the first side of the central axis has the same lateral distance to the central axis of the transport path as the contact area of the second transport element, and wherein the fourth scanning area on the second side of the central axis has the same lateral distance to the central axis of the transport path as the contact are of the second transport element. This enables an exact control/monitoring of the commencing and of the termination of the aligning process by means of the aligning apparatus.
The termination of the aligning process takes generally place at the latest possible moment, at which the aligning of the note of value by the aligning apparatus has to be terminated, in order to guarantee that the note of value is moveable for alignment, in particular transversely to the transport direction. If however only a small aligning movement is needed, it is also possible to terminate the aligning process early.
It is particularly advantageous for the control unit to commence the transport of the note of value in the transport direction T1 upon the detection of the entry of the leading edge of the note of value into the first scanning area or into the second scanning area or, alternatively, into the third scanning area or the fourth scanning area, and to additionally control and/or monitor the aligning apparatus such that the aligning apparatus terminates the aligning process at the latest after the note of value has been transported across a preset second path length in the transport direction. Hereby it is guaranteed that the aligning process is reliably terminated before the note of value gets into contact with the second transport element.
It is also advantageous if the second path length corresponds to the distance between the scanning line of the bank note reader and a contact area of the second transport element for contacting the note of value during its transport along the transport path, minus a safety distance. In other embodiments, the safety distance may also be dispensed with.
It is particularly advantageous if during its transport through the aligning arrangement the note of value is additionally moveably in a transverse direction with respect to the transport direction. Hereby in particular when a lateral offset of the note of value has been detected, this lateral offset can be corrected or at least reduced.
Moreover, it is advantageous if the scanning line of the bank note reader detects at least one position of the note of value for determining a lateral offset of the note of value, wherein a control unit determines the lateral offset with respect to a preset target position. The aligning of the note of value can in particular be carried out by controlling the aligning apparatus in dependence of the determined lateral offset such that the lateral offset is reduced or corrected. The control unit can be a separate control unit of the arrangement or a control unit of the bank note reader. Hereby it is possible to use the bank note reader, which may be used in automatic teller machines for controlling the authenticity of bank notes, also for detecting the lateral offset of a note of value with respect to a target position in a simple manner. The bank note reader is used in this case both for detecting notes of value of any kind, in particular bank notes, checks, vouchers and tickets, and for detecting parameters of a note of value, such as the nominal value of a bank note or the amount of a check or note of value, and also for detecting the authenticity of the note of value, in particular the authenticity of a bank note or of a check or a voucher.
Moreover, it is advantageous, if the point of the contact area of the first transport element having the greatest lateral distance to the central axis defines the lateral distance between the first scanning area and the central axis of the transport path. It is also advantageous, if the point of the contact area of the second transport element, which has the greatest lateral distance to the central axis, defines the lateral distance between the second scanning area and the central axis of the transport path. Hereby it is guaranteed that the leading edge and the trailing edge of the note of value are detected in a scanning area with the same lateral distance with which they are subsequently contacted by the contact area of the first transport element and by the contact area of the second transport element.
Further, it is advantageous if the arrangement has at least one first drive unit which drives at least one transport element of the aligning apparatus, wherein the transport element transports the note of value in the transport direction of the transport path extending through the aligning apparatus. It is particularly advantageous if the aligning apparatus comprises additionally a second drive unit which, when activated, moves the note of value additionally transversely with respect to the transport direction. Thus, by means of the second drive unit a lateral offset of the note of value can be corrected, reduced or, if desired, produced.
In this case, it is advantageous, if the second drive unit moves, when activated, the transport element along the rotational axis thereof. Hereby a lateral movement of the note of value during its transport through the aligning apparatus can be achieved in a simple manner.
Moreover, it is advantageous, if the aligning apparatus moves the note of value during a simultaneous activation of the first drive unit and the second drive unit obliquely with respect to the transport direction. Hereby a simple alignment of the note of value can be achieved in particular in order to reduce or correct a lateral offset of the note of value.
Moreover, it is advantageous, if the transport element comprises driven and/or non-driven rotating transport rollers, transport belts, and/or cylinders. Hereby simple and robust transport elements are provided, by means of which a reliable transport of the note of value along the transport path can be secured.
In a further advantageous embodiment, the rotary direction of the transport element can be reversed so that a bidirectional passage of the notes of value through the arrangement is possible in the first transport direction and in a second transport direction opposed to the first transport direction.
It is particularly advantageous if the note of value passes through the aligning apparatus in a first transport direction, wherein the note of value during its passage is aligned in a first aligning process, and if the note of value is aligned in a second aligning process as it passes through the aligning apparatus in the second direction opposed to the first transport direction. Hereby the same note of value can be aligned repeatedly by the same aligning apparatus in a simple manner, which enables a simple correction also of more substantial displacements, in particular of a relatively great lateral offset of the note of value.
The lateral distances and the path lengths to be controlled and/or monitored are preferably determined or established in a transport plane defined by the transport path.
Both in the method and in the arrangement two aligning apparatuses can be provided subsequently along the transport path so that a first aligning process is carried out by means of the first aligning apparatus and subsequently a second aligning process is carried out by means of the second aligning apparatus.
The transport path is preferably limited by several transport elements, at least a part of which is arranged in sequence in the transport direction. Further, the transport path can be arranged between a guide element and a second guide element. In particular, the transport elements can be arranged and the guide elements can be designed such that the transport plane has an arched or curved course in the transport direction. A note of value can be transported along the transport path such that its front is arranged so that it faces a contact area of the first guide element and that its back is arranged so that it faces a contact area of the second guide element. The contact areas of the guide elements extend in a plane parallel to the transport plane, which has preferably a relatively small distance to the transport plane.
Further features and advantages of the invention become clear from the following description, which, in conjunction with the enclosed drawing figures, explains the invention in more detail with reference to various embodiments.